Family First

With the wedding being only two weeks away, you would think that would be the only thing on my mind, and until Sunday night that was pretty much true. The phone call from my mom I got that night would end up all my wedding worries, and it made me revaluate what’s really important in life.

On Sunday afternoon my mom and dad went on a walk, and only about 1/4 mile into their walk my dad started feeling sick. His chest was tight, he was having a hard time breathing, and he even vomited. He thought he could just walk off the pain, but it became a little too much. With that my mom told him to she would go and get the car, and pick him up from that part of the trail they were walking. While my mom was getting the car, a cop stopped and was checking if everything was ok with my dad. My dad said he would be fine, but the cop was nice enough to wait with my dad till my mom came around with the car.

While waiting for my mom, a nurse happen to also be walking on the trail and looked at my dad and knew that something was wrong. She suggested that my dad really should go to the hospital, and with that they called an ambulance. 

Once at the hospital, he was rushed in to surgery. We later found out that he had a heart attack and that 2 of the arteries in his heart were 100% blocked and another was 80-90% blocked. During the surgery the doctors opened one of the 100% blocked arteries while leaving the other as is.

My dad was in the UIC Sunday night, all of Monday and Tuesday. Seeing my dad Monday morning with all those tubes coming out him was very scary. They had him huge oxygen mask over his face, so he really couldn’t talk. Just see him lying there brought tears to my eyes because I knew that he was really sick and in pain.

My dad has been so excited about me getting married, and I know he really wants to walk me down that aisle. Thought of him not making it to the wedding was something I tried not to let myself think about, but I couldn’t help it.

Wednesday afternoon he was taken out of ICU and put into a regular room. When I saw him on Wednesday night he was pretty much back to his normal self.

This morning, he went in for another surgery to open up the other two arteries. I’m happy to report the surgery went well. The hospital is going to keep him in ICU just for tonight, and he maybe released as early as tomorrow.

You don’t realize how important people are in your life until they are almost (or actually are) taken away from you.  I would tell everyone out there; make sure you make the time for the people that you love. We all get busy, but in the end it’s the relationships you form while on this earth that really matter. Having a nice wedding will be great, but having your family and friends there to share in your special day is what is really important.

(Picture from 1990- I'm in the red tshirt)

Please keep my dad in your prays, and I’ll be sure to post another update soon.

Wedding Centerpieces Part IV

I'm happy to report I finally figured out what my last centerpiece is going to look like for the wedding. For some reason I was having a lot of trouble figuring out what to do with the "fish bowl" vase. 

So last night my mom and I went to Hobby Lobby on a mission to make this last centerpiece. With only 3 weeks till the wedding (that's a scary thought), we really needed to get this done this weekend. So after about a hour at the store and some serious brainstorming, we final figure out something that we thought would go well with the other 3 centerpieces- this is what we came up with.

So here it the final line up of the wedding centerpieces....

Fun with feathers

Tall and earthy 

(with purple beads to be added the day of the wedding)

Crazy with Glitter & Simple and Whimsical

I'm glad I can check this off the wedding to do list. Now I just have to about 5 more of each of these before the wedding. Luckily all of these don't take to long to make, so that's a good thing.

Other big things that needs to get done this week: 

• Make the final deposit on our minimum guest count
• Call the hotel to set up final arrangements for my guests
• Call people who we haven't received their RSVP from
• Order wedding favors 
• Pick out a reading for the wedding ceremony

There are probably other things I'm forgetting about but, I'm not too worry about it. I'm just trying to go with the flow these last few weeks. 

Well, I'm going to try to enjoy this freak 80 degree in Chicago. Have a great weekend!

Wedding Centerpieces Part III

Welcome October.... I can't believe I'm get married this month. Crazy...

Of all my centerpieces I'm making for my wedding, this would have to be the one that will take the most work to put together. However one my mom bought me these vases, I knew what I wanted it to look like.

I have seen many people use this "Eiffel tower" vase, but you can really only do a few things with them. Either a big floral displays or what I like to call "feather palm trees". Considering I'm not using floral in my centerpieces, feathers it is.

What I used to make my centerpieces...

• Eiffel tower vase
• Black ostrich feathers (16)
• 4-6 inch black craft feathers
• 4-6 inch purple craft feathers
• Bouquet holder with a straight handle
• Black paint
• Glue
• Purple ribbon

I started with the plain white bouquet holders.

Because the feathers I was using are mostly black, I didn't want the white foam showing through. So I painted the foam and everything but expect for the handle black.

Then I glued the purple ribbon to the handles on the bouquets.

 
I also, left long pieces of ribbon at the bottom of the handles so they can hang down into the vases.

 
Next, I added the ostrich feathers to my bouquet holder. I order enough to have 16 ostrich feather in each bouquet.

Once the ostrich feathers are in place, I filled the rest of the open spaces with the 4-6 inch black and purple feather.

To add a touch of silver, I added the curly silver glass found in my tall centerpiece. And this is the final product-

I'm a big fan of these centerpieces, but I'm not look forward to making the last 5. However, I see a night of crafty bridesmaids hanging out and getting these made (and whatever other centerpieces and favors that need to be finished at that point).

Happy October... I hope this month doesn't go by too fast!

Our 10th Anniversary

So believe it or not, I’ve been with the soon-to-be husband for 10 years today. I really can't believe that much time has passed. But when you start dating someone your sophomore year of high school, that will happen.    


 


We’ve gone through both good and bad times. We both lost people close to us and learn to lean on each other for support. We learned to live with each other's good and bad habits. I feel like our relationship has always been strong, and as move into this next chapter of our lives to together, it will only grow stronger.

I count myself lucky to have found the person I’m going to spend the rest of my life with on my very first try. If everyone was that lucky, this world would be filled with a lot more love. I feel so lucky that our relationship has last longer than most marriages.

With all the said, I really just want to express how happy I am that I have found the perfect person to share my life with.  Sam- you are a great man, great boyfriend, soon-to-be husband, and someday you’ll be a great father.  I love you!

Indecisive Bride - Engagement Photos

Originally when Sam and I got engaged, I figured we would skip out on doing engagement photos. Considering we have been dating for 10 years (well our 10 year anniversary is tomorrow), we have tons of photos of us. Also, I wasn't willing to pay to have someone take some "pretty" photos of us that we may only use for a "save the date" or "thank you" note. However, we did get engagement photos taken. It was included in our wedding photo package, so I figure why not take advantage of the "free" photo session.

Keeping in mind these are our "engagement photos", I had us wear the same outfits we wore the night we got engaged. Lucky for us, the weather was really nice because Sam was in shorts and I was wearing a dress.

So I got the online proofs back and I have to pick one picture to use for our "Web Invitation Cards". These are cards the photographer provides to our guest the night of the wedding telling them where they can view the photos from our wedding.

This is where my indecision comes into play, I'm not sure what photo I like the best. However, I got it down to 4 choices. This is where you come in- help me pick the picture for our "web invites".

1. Go to our photographer web site: www.eivans.com
2. Click on the "Bridal Login" link
3. Enter my blog email: ssdarke@yahoo.com 
4. Enter the password they gave me: stacy

The four photos I'm down to and can't pick from are either: 16, 28, 53, or 67


Which photo do you like best?

Thanks for your help!

5 Week Countdown

With only 35 days left till the wedding, I don't think it has really hit me yet how much still needs to get done. This maybe a good thing because I'm still feeling very calm. However, this is because I know I have a great support team who is willing to help out with anything I need.

Here are a few things that have gotten check off the list in the last few weeks...

• Wedding dress is altered and is ready to go
• Got engagement photos taken
• Found someone to do our hair for the wedding (for a really reasonable price)
• Started sending/ handing out the Michigan reception invitations
• The majority of my "thank you" notes have been sent out from the shower
• Sent in our photography time line for the wedding day

Things that still need to be done...

• Finish making all the wedding centerpieces
• Buy the wedding favors
• Buy bridesmaids, groomsmen, flower girl, ring barrier, and parent gifts
• Find wedding transportation (this is just an extra expense I'm really not sure about) 
• Buy wedding rings (again extra expense I'm not sure about- long story)
• Choose ceremony readings and music
• Making wedding ceremony programs

So, I will have plenty to keep me busy for the next 5 weeks. However, I think it all should come together pretty smoothly. (I hopefully those aren't my famous last words.)

Wish me luck!

What would be a good gift for a flower girl and ring barrier? How about our parents gifts?

Wedding Centerpieces Part II

So I have made a little more head way on what my centerpieces for my wedding are going to look like. In my first post about my wedding centerpieces, you got to see the centerpiece that is already done and you also got to see what vases I have to work with.

I was really sure what to do with this vase

but this is what I came up with....

What I like a about this centerpiece is that it is very simple but it will work well for a Halloween weekend wedding. I'm also thinking about adding purple gel beads in the vase so I all three color are represented.

This picture will give you an idea of how tall this centerpiece really is.

Sitting on the table in my mom dining room it almost touches the ceiling. I love centerpieces that different heights, so this will be the tallest centerpiece at my wedding.

I also found something to do the "Eiffel tower" vase, but that will be for another post.

In other wedding news: Sam and I got our engagement photos taken on Tuesday. We really lucked out when it came to the weather. It was warm enough for me to wear a dress and Sam to wear shorts. We ended up wearing the same outfits we wore the day we got engaged. It only seem fitting because these are our engagement pictures.